Reese Witherspoon to reunite with director James Mangold for 'Three Little Words'

Her recent run-ins with the law may be mildly tarnishing her name at the moment, but the question of what's up with Reese Witherspoon has been on my mind for several years now -- and it has nothing to do with any offscreen activities. Rather, the decline of Witherspoon as a vital screen actress -- all while she's held onto her stardom with impressive ease -- has been far more troubling to witness than any standard-issue TMZ fodder.

As is all too often the case, Witherspoon's career took a sharp turn for the uninteresting almost immediately after winning her Oscar: a deserved one, in her case, for a bright and canny turn as June Carter Cash in James Mangold's country-music biopic "Walk the Line." Far too long a time passed while we waited for her to follow up this career boost with a committed but off-key dramatic turn in "Rendition," and an indifferent comic one in "Four Christmases."

"How Do You Know" had its high-end fans -- most of them not all that vocal about Witherspoon's lead turn -- but by the time last year's noxiously misogynistic "This Means War," a supposed romcom that didn't burden Witherspoon with a single smart one-liner, rolled around, the frisky, risky, sour-sweet young star of "Freeway," "Election" or even "Legally Blonde" seemed another person entirely.

But Witherspoon seems to be trying to turn things around. "Mud" may not give her an awful lot to work with -- Jeff Nichols' indie drama is, in its own way, as plagued with gender issues as "This Means War" -- but it's at least indicative of the scale and class of project she should be pursuing alongside her Hollywood potboilers. Ditto Atom Egoyan's upcoming "Devil's Knot" and human-interest drama "The Good Lie" from "Monsieur Lazhar" director Philippe Falardeau. The firecracker comedy roles haven't returned just yet, but it's a start.

Witherspoon's latest project, meanwhile, finds her extending this well-meaning dramatic streak, as well as reteaming with the director who got her that Oscar: James Mangold's "Three Little Words," based on the bestselling memoir by Ashley Rhodes-Courter, will start rolling in September, and will be on the market at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival.

The film will star Witherspoon as a volunteer social worker who takes on the cause of an adolescent girl who has been buried within the welfare system for nine years; the volunteer must persuade the girl's biological mother to sever her parental rights to the child. The book was a hit upon its publication in 2008, though producer Cathy Konrad, seeing cinematic potential in the story, had actually optioned it four years previously. Amanda Seyfried is in talks to co-star; Lewis Colick (a WGA nominee for "October Sky") and Michael Petroni ("The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys") penned the adaptation. Red Crown Productions, the outfit most recently behind "What Maisie Knew," is driving the project.

The film will take Mangold back to the kind of female-centered, character-oriented territory he hasn't occupied since 1999's "Girl, Interrupted" -- another youth-in-crisis memoir that won an Oscar for Angelina Jolie. His touch will have to be delicate to escape the material's movie-of-the-week pitfalls, but this still represents a healthy about-face for the director after his recent big-budget exploits with "The Wolverine" and 2010's "Knight and Day." Perhaps he and Witherspoon will bring out the best in each other. What do you say?

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Guy Lodge is a South African-born critic and sometime screenwriter. In addition to his work at In Contention, he is a freelance contributor to Variety, Time Out, Empire and The Guardian. He lives well beyond his means in London.

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Guy, Reese Witherspoon didn't deserve her Oscar over Transamerica 's Felicity Huffman. Huffman was sensational in that movie, and her performance was deeply felt. I didn't always buy Witherspoon as June Carter- especially not her singing .

I missed Reese's edgy turns in Election, Freeway, and Pleasantville. But, because her recent rom-coms have bombed, Witherspoon is not interested in making better film choices.

Glad to hear that, Guy. I truly think she's one of the most promising talents in a long time. And I too am confused by this idea of her needing help, surely, she's doing well all by herself (not that a good review from Guy wouldn't help)

I am melodramatic behind the politics of Best Actress. You on the other hand are nonchalant. Jessica's defeat this year shows the priorities of the majority male voter block. I see her headed either in the trap of Supporting Actress consolation. Or the more noble fate of an Oscar less legend.

Whenever I give high praise to Chastain you'll chime in with the hold your horses she isn't in the end all be all. You may like her but you certainly don't love her and champion her like those of us who know she represents something special unlike the watered down Juliette Lewis who beat her.

In her mid-30's she has an hourglass of time for the meat and potatoes of roles for women in that age range and those who can play younger.

Reese has her Oscar for Best Actress and at anytime could resurge whether through a role with awards traction or just a performance that leads them to sending her better scripts.

Hilary Swank mirroring Sally Field are a pair of dumbluck double Best Actress Oscar winners. Stop worrying about her too.

And since Streep is a cultural institution who cares if awards bodies ignore her everywoman performances -- she's privilege over everyone else including men.

What the eff is this off-beat defense of Jessica Chastain. I love her to death as well (I follow her on facebook, lol), but it's not like she's starving for good roles right now. She's shooting Miss Julie right now and just signed on for the new Guillermo del Toro pic. And when has Guy ever been indifferent or negative towards Jessica Chastain? She's been the "it" girl for two years running now and shows no signs of stopping.

As far as Witherspoon, I really do hope her career turns around. I've always defended her and thought her to be a compelling and very smart actress (her perf in Election is one of my faves ever and I thought her Oscar-winning performance in Walk the Line was very well-deserved). Hollywood tried to turn her into the Julia Roberts/Sandra Bullock romantic comedy queen and it backfired. Hopefully she's realized her talents extend far beyond the stagnant box of formulaic, Hollywood rom-coms.

Guy - If you think that's unhinged, you should see his comments at The Film Experience. Regardless of the topic, dude always finds a way to insult Meryl Streep. Sure, it's tiresome that she gets every single lead role out there in Hollywood for 50+ women, but yikes. You'd think she killed his whole family or something.

Jan: It's obvious, I'm aiming for a book deal with my anti-Streep tirades. I can imagine Gus Van Sant being interested in adapting it for the screen. And like all black gay boys, I want to be played by Tilda Swinton.

Dearest /3RT, thank you ever so much. As it turns out, I haven't had the time to record nor watch this week's episode of "My Strange Addiction: online trolling". How baffled I am by your sincere, pitch-perfect and simply generous demonstration!